California Supreme Court

OC's Potpocalypse Arrives in Anaheim

Some of Orange County's last-standing medical marijuana dispensaries have until May 24 to shut down. On May 17, following a similar action in Garden Grove that came in the wake of the recent California Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the right of cities to ban storefront cannabis purveyors, the ... More >>

Orange County Bids Farewell to Storefront Marijuana Dispensaries

But they're not shutting down without a fight

OC & Riverside Democrats Struggle to Reverse California's Potpocalypse

When it comes to mainstream American politics, usually it's the Libertarian Party that one would associate with a pro-marijuana (medical or otherwise) agenda, but now you can add the Democratic Party to that very brief list. To wit: in Riverside, the very town whose fight over a local ban on marij ... More >>

Tani Cantil-Sakauye, State's Chief Justice, to Give UCI Law School Commencement Address

The chief justice of the California Supreme Court will deliver the commencement address at UC Irvine School of Law on May 11. Fortunately, the UCI School of Law has informed the Weekly who that is: Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Truth be told, Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2011, becoming t ... More >>

California Supreme Court Upholds Cities' Right to Ban Pot Clubs

Note to states considering medical marijuana measures: Don't forget to include a statute forcing cities and counties to enact zoning laws that will allow storefront dispensaries to operate. Without something like that, your clubs are going to get shut down. In a ruling issued this morning, the Cal ... More >>

[UPDATED: City Council Approves Measure For Ballot] Santa Ana Activists Submit 16,000 Signatures To Overturn Pot Ban

See next page for updates on this story.ORIGINAL POST, Jan. 25, 12:25 p.m.: Yesterday, medical marijuana activists seeking to overturn Santa Ana's ban on medical marijuana collectives showed up at city hall with 16,000 signatures of city residents who want the pot clubs back in business. The group, ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Gallo, Drunk Driver Convicted of Killing Angels Phenom Nick Adenhart and 2 Others, Gets No State Supreme Court Relief

It's another swing and a miss for Andrew Thomas Gallo as the California Supreme Court denied the San Gabriel man's pitch for a review of his conviction on triple-homicide, drunken-driving and hit-and-run charges for the 2009 Fullerton crash that took the life of rising Anaheim Angels star Nick Adenh ... More >>

[UPDATED: Everyone Thinks Court Will Uphold Bans] California Supreme Court Weighs Future of Medical Marijuana

Click to next page for an update where I admit nobody agrees with my reading of oral arguments yesterday.ORIGINAL POST, Feb. 5, 2:00 p.m.: The fate of California's medical marijuana movement is now in the hands of the seven justices of the California Supreme Court.For two hours this morning, the jus ... More >>

Meet the "Irvine 11" Appellate Case, Same as the "Irvine 11" Superior Court Case

The 77-page appellate brief filed this week by the defense seeking to overturn the misdemeanor convictions of 10 of the so-called "Irvine 11" boils down to the same question that was before Orange County Superior Court in 2011: Did the free speech rights of Muslim students who loudly and systematica ... More >>

Getting High For the Heck of it Now Legal in Washington State, California Stuck in Medical Pot Fog

Today, Washington State made history by becoming the first state in the union where you can smoke marijuana just to get high. A bunch of folks celebrated that fact by gathering at Seattle's Space Needle for a stroke-of-midnight smoke-out. "I feel like a kid in a candy store," one of the midnight rav ... More >>

After Flip Flops, California Judges Decide if a Balcony is Part of a Residence

Around midnight on Aug. 5, 2009 in Los Angeles, Jammal Haneef Yarbrough climbed nine feet to a second story residential balcony containing two bicycles and was clinging to a four-foot high steel railing when a dog in the home began barking and the resident emerged to confront him.Yarbrough fled and, ... More >>

Better Call Glew: Driving While Beltless!

Is it true the police can arrest you for not wearing your seatbelt or if you drive without your ID?

Long Beach Bans "Rogue" Marijuana Dispensaries

Curt Merlo​The Long Beach City Council voted last night to ban medical marijuana dispensaries from operating in the city, but allowed clubs that won the city's controversial marijuana lottery to remain open for four months. The clubs that were exempted from the ban belong to the Long Beach Collect ... More >>

Let Them Eat (a Gay Wedding) Cake: Gay Activists Get Their Valentine's Day on at Orange County Courthouse

​Linda May said it took her a long time to bake the "domestic partnership" cake she displayed Tuesday outside the Orange County Courthouse at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. in downtown Santa Ana.She said the cake is symbolic of the gay community's efforts to overturn laws against same-sex marriage. " ... More >>

Orange County Death Row Inmate Wins California Supreme Court Reversal

​A vicious Orange County career criminal, heroin addict, pimp and killer given a death sentence nearly 12 years ago has reason to rejoice today after the California Supreme Court reversed the punishment because a judge here botched the jury instructions.In a 26-page ruling written by Justice Joyce ... More >>

Long Beach City Council To Vote on Pot Ban Next Tuesday

​UPDATE, Jan. 18, 10:30 AM: The Long Beach City Council has yet again delayed its vote on whether to ban medical marijuana, this time because councilmember Suja Lowenthal was absent from the city council chambers. Ironically, the council had been expected to vote on such a ban last month, but Lowe ... More >>

State Supreme Court Upholds Abolition of Redevelopment Agencies

​Governor and Norcal Democrat Jerry Brown and Assemblyman and OC Republican Chris Norby don't agree on much, but they do see graying eyebrow to graying eyebrow on abolishing local redevelopment agencies to help close the state budget gap. Today, they and other RDA opponents scored a victory when t ... More >>

Oracle Corporation Slammed By Federal Court For Cheating Employees

Stotler​A high-ranking federal court handed good news today to California's labor pool.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned an Orange County Republican federal judge who'd granted Oracle Corporation summary judgement against employees who claimed the company had systemati ... More >>

Quick Ruling for Gay Marriage in California Expected Despite Today's Prop 8 Ruling

​The California Supreme Court ruled today that gay marriage foes can fight the reversal of Prop 8.Because the offices of the governor and state attorney general refuse to defend the same-sex marriage ban, legal scholars such as UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky had opined that Prop 8 ... More >>

Ex-Superintendent James Fleming Sues Capistrano Unified School District For Damages

Fleming​Nearly a year after a state appeals court dropped charges against him, James Fleming is suing Capistrano Unified School District for in attorney fees and lost wages--which one of Fleming's attorneys once estimated at more than $1.6 million.The former superintendent filed a complaint in Ora ... More >>

County of Orange, Already Stung in Court Trying to Reverse Lucrative Pensions to Sheriff's Deputies, Agrees to Pay Union's $1.3 Million Legal Fees

​Already stung by the California Supreme Court siding with deputies, who'd been granted the right to retire at age 50 with lifetime pensions that are 90 percent of their highest earned salaries, the county Board of Supervisors today announced it will pick up the law enforcement union's $1.3 millio ... More >>

Jerry Brown Criticized For Not Going Latino With California Supreme Court Pick

Goodwin Liu​​​Today, Gov. Jerry Brown nominated UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court. Shortly after, Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, whose district includes Buena Park, issued a statement about the pick. In it, he congratulates Liu, yada yada, and then tak ... More >>

Supreme Court Sides With OC Deputy Union on Lucrative Pensions

I want retirement money to buy more Hostess Ho Hos​The California Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by Orange County supervisors who wanted them to sanction amendments to what an earlier board of supervisors had done: grant sheriff's deputies the right to retire at the age of 50 and collect 9 ... More >>

[UPDATED] Federal Government Will No Longer Defend Defense of Marriage Act

​UPDATE, FEB. 23, 4:18 P.M.: The couple who filed the first marriage equality case in California and later became petitioners to overturn Prop 8, Diane Olson and Robin Tyler, said today's decision by the Obama administration to stop defending the federal government's anti-gay marriage law is "a hu ... More >>

As State Supremes Vow to Rule on Prop 8 Backers' Standing, Tom Harman Tries to Make Matter Moot

Presumably non-gay State Sen. Tom Harman​The California Supreme Court yesterday agreed to analyze whether Proposition 8 proponents have standing to appeal a federal judge's ruling that lifted the ban on same-sex marriages in the Golden State--a legal detour that could delay an appellate decision o ... More >>

Proposition 8 Ruling: One Challenge Rejected, Another Bounced Back to State Supreme Court

​In at least a partial setback for the h8rs, the Los Angeles Times reports that a federal appeals court has rejected Imperial County's challenge to Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative, which banned same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional.The 9th Circuit Co ... More >>

High Court: Liquor Store Owner's Murder Conviction Should Stand

Marvin V. Smith​Justice can take many twists--if it ever arrives.Take the case of Marvin Vernis Smith, the wealthy liquor store owner who viciously murdered his lovely wife Minnie with a fireplace poker and then made the bloody crime scene at the couple's Cypress residence look like a burglary gon ... More >>

State Supreme Court Ruling: Undocumented Students To Pay In-State Tuition; Out-of-State Students Still S.O.L.

​Undocumented students may continue to attend the state's college and universities at in-state tuition rates rather than pay the higher rates charged to those who live out of state, the California Supreme Court ruled today. The Court upheld AB 540, which permits students, regardless of thei ... More >>

Haidl Gang Rapist's Last Descpicable Act is Deservedly a Dud

Time for 3 clowns to exit the stage​The California Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by the infamous Haidl Gang Rapists to overturn the court order that requires them to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.It was an anti-climatic ruling given that Superior Court Judge Franc ... More >>

Doh! Whiny Haidl Gang Rapists Appeal Denied Again

media pool photographStill can't accept that no means no​This afternoon justices at the California Court of Appeal based in Santa Ana denied a formal request to second guess their recent decision to uphold the convictions of three men found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious minor in Cor ... More >>

One More "Airplane!" Scene Now Dated

​No-nonsense, double-sunglassed chief pilot Rex Kramer (Robert Stack) shoves, punches and tosses donation solicitors--including a Hare Krishna (David Leisure)--blocking his path at a busy airport in the 1980 comedy Airplane!Like much of the flick's now-dated humor (Airplane! was the best motion pi ... More >>

ACLU Lawyer Honors: So LA. Who Needs 'Em? Oh, Wait ...

Courtesy ACLU/SCBelinda Escobosa Helzer, staff attorney for the ACLU/SC, fights for Quan Am Temple. Hey, where's her award?Normally, we'd blow off the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California's 15th annual Law Luncheon on June 19. It's on a Friday, which is when we normally catch ... More >>

Heat And Activism In Fresno: A Prop. 8 Protest Journal

Dave Barton Thousands rallied on 5/30 in Fresno for Meet in the Middle 4 Marriage Equality event, which included a 14-mile march. Protest organizers chose the city of Fresno--instead of marching to the capitol or in so-called "gay ghettos"--because they city had voted 65%-70% for the passing of Pro ... More >>

Just Who Were Those Bigots at the No on 8 Rally Yesterday?

Got to the big rally late yesterday, but did my bit of karmic good and promoted the event on my KPFK-FM 90.7 show. Moxley pretty much nailed it, so all I can add is the identity of the few bigots that tried to disrupt the 500 or so folks who peacefully, happily denounced the California State Supreme ... More >>

Prop. 8 Upheld, But Previous Gay Marriages Remain Valid

The California Supreme Court has announced its ruling on the challenge to the state's gay marriage ban: The voter-approved ban shall remain in place, but the 18,000 gay couples who were married before it took effect will not have their marriages invalidated. The decision was made by a 6-1 majority o ... More >>

OC Gay Groups Blast Supreme Court For Caving To Bigots, Call for Rally Tonight

Disappointed in today's ruling upholding Prop. 8's effort to block future gay marriages in California, the leadership of two Orange County gay organizations accused the California Supreme Court of "acting out of fear of political retribution" from religious right."Today is a sad day for equality," s ... More >>

Gloria Allred To Say Things Next Week. Also, Fate Of Gays To Be Decided.

This morning, media-master attorney Gloria Allred sent out a press release that scooped my RSS reader to the news that the California Supreme Court would be announcing its decision on the challenge to Proposition 8 next Tuesday. As if you need a refresher, Allred's the lawyer whose dipped her toes i ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 27

Orange County Register: Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents, Inglewood police and members of a multi-agency task force surveilling Gerardo Medina Hernandez say they watched him pull packages from two compartments built into the front wheel wells of his 2005 Volkswagen sport utility ve ... More >>

Supremes' Prop. 8 Oral Arguments Generate Vigils, Viewing Parties, Rallies

Okay, Prop. 8, supporters, be honest: Would you rather attend a party thrown by gays or straights? If you answered the latter, well, then, you haven't been to a party thrown by gays, have you? Think of all the collected knowledge of Martha Stewart, the Queer Eye guys and Chelsea Handler funneled int ... More >>

Honest Abe Lincoln Delays OC Participation in Same-Sex Marriage Stunt

Tomorrow, same-sex couples throughout the country will go to their local county clerk counters and request marriage licenses as part of National Freedom to Marry Day. That won't happen in Orange County, however. The Old County Courthouse is closed due to Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This is ironic, g ... More >>

Still More Fun From the Prop. 8 Imbroglio . . .

If it is even possible, there will be a greater concentration of gay and lesbian people in San Francisco on March 5, when the California Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the challenge of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. On the flipside, the day could also see a huge spike in intol ... More >>

Supreme Court To Hear Challenges Of Prop 8

The California Supreme Court agreed to hear legal challenges to the recently passed Proposition 8 today according to the LA Times. The state's highest court could have chosen not to hear any of the oppositions to the new amendment to the state constitution but decided to do the right thing instead. ... More >>

[Web Exclusive!] A Case From the Past Haunts Reporter

Save Straight Marriages, Quash Queer Ones

The funniest of articles appeared earlier this week in the Orange County Register: Christian churches are uniting to save marriage. At Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, about 100 pastors gathered under the guise of the Orange County Marriage Education Initiative, which its website declares is ... More >>

We're Getting Gay Married!

It was about 10:45 this morning when I flipped on KFWB after getting out of my Santa Ana Saturn dealership—the TV wasn't on in their waiting room, but it would've been interesting to see the reaction of the elderly woman with the scrunched-up face engrossed in her Orange County Register when she h ... More >>

Conviction Overturned for OC's Most Famous Anarchist

Three years ago, Orange County's most famous anarchist pleaded no contest to several felonies relating to his alleged attempt to blow up La Habra's Moose Lodge in 2002. On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court overturned Matthew Gordon "Rampage" Lamont's conviction, arguing that police violated La ... More >>

Saturday's Headlines & Surprises: Calling Nurse Ratched

UCI Cluster Fuck: News emerged today that Michael J. Schroeder, OC GOP heavyweight, participated with a group of 20 fellow Republicans to pressure the UCI Chancellor from hiring liberal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of the university's first law school. Michael V. Drake offered the job to Cheme ... More >>

California Police Secrecy Takes a Hit

Is the public entitled to know who has been granted police powers in California? Or are cops entitled to, as they claim, near-national-security-level secrecy about such basic information as their names and what department employs them? These were the type of questions the California Supreme Court ... More >>

Bad News for Ladies' Night at Clubs/Bars

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court ruled that businesses charging one sex less for, say, entry or drinks cannot escape legal liability if the discriminated person fails to protest at the time. In July 2002, Marc Angelucci, Edgar Pacas, Elton Campbell and Jeff Kent were charged $20 entrance fe ... More >>

Out of Sight